AfterMath
by Rosel
Summary: Set After the series finale of Angel. Buffy finds an injured Spike and secretly aids him to health. Mean while Dawn is going to UCLA and meets Connor.
1. Chapter 1

After Math

A/N: Happens immediately after Angel show is over

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The darkness was over and Spike layed on the street barely able to breathe. Why did he choose this again? Why did he choose to fight for the sake of good? On the other side it didn't seem so painful but while fighting for good he had gone through more physical pain then he thought possible. He knew he had bared all of this pain for one reason: love. That is how it all started. That's how he got his soul and some of his true suffering truly began. He done it all for her, the love of his after life Buffy Summers the original vampire slayer of this generation. He didn't know how he fallen in love with her. He didn't know how he began to love her. How did one fall for someone who has been you're enemy for years? It must have started when he got the chip in his head and he no longer could hurt humans. That was when he really experienced true pain. He got this gruesome, blistering, mind numbing head aches. And all of the pain and the torture that he enacted on others started to be enacted on himself. Then he experienced the horrible suffering of having to endure an obsessive love of Buffy. Something that consumed him and felt worse then any pain he experienced. But then the day came when she actually receipted. And that led to the angsty pain that led him to choose to get a soul. He had went through all of these painful tests for this soul. He had saw what it had done to Angel but some how he thought the chance of Buffy accepting him for real was worth it. And in the end after all the wrenching confusing pain it was. She had accepted him and she had told him that she loved him. That's all he wanted for so long. When she said it he had sacrificed himself to save her and the world and he didn't believe her. But it was enough for him to die for her. Knowing that she would see him as a hero then just a vampire made it all worth it.

And then he had been torn back by some ancient necklace and stuck to fight along side Angel of all people; the other vampire with a soul, the original vampire with a soul. The one he feared and knew that was the love of Buffy's life. But now he had found himself fighting along his side against the ultimate evil. They were trying to put the biggest dent in Wolfraim and Hart and their evil bosses that was possible for two vampires, an ancient demon, and one human to make. The battle raged all night long and they had battled fiercely all of the monstreties and demons they could and then they were gone. The battle over and he had suffered so much pain and injuries.

He laid on the street clutching his massive injuries he thought that really ugly demon must have cracked his rib. And now it did not matter. As he looked up and saw the sun was about to rise and in a matter of minutes he would be dust. He tried to crawl to find some kind of shade. But his strength was surpassing extremely he saw nothing but fuzziness then he saw a dark figure hover above him. He saw nothing but long golden locks and then he saw nothing but complete darkness.

The next thing he knew was that his eye was waking up to this light. All he could think of was how he could have possibly made it to heaven. The blurriness ceased and he made out the room he was staying in it was a wholesome hotel room. The next thing he knew the door opened he jumped up noticing his ribs didn't feel as bad as they were. He realized he wasn't wearing shirt he was wearing bandages. As the door open Buffy Summers came through he jumped up in shock.

"Bloody Hell."

Buffy smiled, "Nice to see you too."

"Buffy, what are you…" He asked as he started to get up. He then moaned in pain trying to get up.

Buffy quickly went to his aide.

"Relax, it looks like you've been through a lot."

He just stared at her bewildered.

"Buffy what are doing here? Where is here?"

"We're in LA. I came to take Dawn to college, she got accepted to UCLA. I saw you lying on the street just before the sun was about to rise. I wasn't about to let you die again or at least not with out beating an explanation from you later."

He wanted to smile at her remark but it hurt to smile. He figured he had to give her explanation about his death.

"Listen Buffy. I was going to tell..."

She sat next to him on the edge of the bed. "You can explain to me when you're better healed." She then put the covers around him and said, "Now sleep."

Then she left him alone with the fuzziness and the pain.

Buffy paced in front of the living room upholstered couch. She jumped when the door opened it was Dawn.

"Hey, Jumpy enough. I thought you'd be more relaxed now you're not the only slayer."

"You'd think, but some complications can't be rewritten with the ending of a prophecy."

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. So shouldn't you be settled at the dorm by now?"

"Yeah, I was a little surprised you weren't there helping me get settled in, invading my privacy, embarrassing me. You know regular big sister Buffy stuff."

"Sorry. I got distracted. but I can help you get settled now."

"No it's ok. I think I'm covered. So are you headed back to Rome now?"

"Not just yet. I thought I could just stay you know for a couple of days see the sights."

"The sights?" Dawn looked at Buffy skeptical.

"Don't worry Dawn, I'm not intruding on you're new life. I know you have to spread you're wings some time."

"Yeah, I know that. So I actually came for a reason, I think I left a bag here. I'll just get it." She was about to go to the room but Buffy stopped her.

"Oh, I'll get it for you. You stay right here."

Thirty seconds later Buffy came back with the bag and handed it to Dawn. Dawn looked at her suspiciously.

"Is everything ok?" Dawn asked concerned.

"Uh, what yeah, I'm fine Dawn, just a little nervous about lil' sis all growing up and going to college on her own. That's all."

Dawn gave her older sister another suspicious look. She sighed while she picked up her bag. Then she hugged Buffy, "Ok, I better go. Let me know when you're leaving."

"Of course, I will." Buffy said hugging her back.

Buffy watched her sister leave folding her arms she sighed wistfully. She did not like this at all. She hated lying to her sister and hiding things from her, especially about Spike. She had plenty experience with doing that. So much has changed since she was sneaking around with Spike and lying to everyone. Spike had gotten a soul and they had grown a lot closer together after that. It was no longer this twisted thing. It had grown to something special. And then he died saving the world. She had to tell him how she felt about him. She was a little hurt he didn't believe her but she really didn't have any time to disagree. She had to leave and he had to save the world.


	2. Chapter 2

Dawn lied on her bed gazing at the run down dorm room. It was the summer and so it was mostly vacant. She was able to get in if she started in the summer. Like her sister she wasn't the best student but she wanted to change all of that. She did need a major change and life away from her sister. Sure she loved her sister Buffy Summers to death but she was tired of being defined as the sister of the original vampire slayer of this generation. Dawn wanted a life of her own. She tried to do the whole traveling thing and really find herself. Buffy would not let her do it on her own. So Buffy followed her where ever she went. To Dawns surprise she became relieved when Buffy started to date yet, again another vampire. Geesh what was her sister's deal? First Angel, then Spike, and then the Immortal.

The Immortal was not like Spike and Angel at least they both had souls. The Immortal was clearly something else all together, his name does say a lot about him, he wasn't exactly a run of the meal vampire either, he was something else, in his own level and Dawn swore he had could put some kind of hormone out there that simply attracted women. When Dawn met him she was even attracted to him and she attested vampires even though, she did have a small crush on Spike until she found out how awful he was to her sister. Apparently Buffy forgave him when he came back with a soul but Dawn had not and if he hadn't died saving the world Dawn would surely stake him through the heart while he was sleeping.

She thought Rome would be great and when she finally got some peace and have her sister out of her hair she felt relief then that was immediately accompanied by guilt. She knew that her sister must be on some kind of spell the way she was letting her life evolve around this vampire and the way she would do what ever he said. So Dawn started to look for options maybe if she left some where else Buffy would follow her and get away from destructive vampire without a soul but something really fishy going on boyfriend. So Dawn looked at colleges on the internet and saw LA University and she heard bells. If she went to college her sister would surely follow her and maybe she would be distracted by another vampire with a soul and leave her alone and not be with a really bad guy.

So that is just what she did and Buffy followed her with out hesitant, it was good to know that she could rely on Buffy's overprotective nature and that it could even break some weird love spell. When they did arrive and Dawn was sure that Buffy was off that spell Dawn threw the bomb at her, she was not going to find an apartment to share with Buffy she was going to live in the dorm without Buffy breathing down her neck.

Moving out and away from Buffy's protection was a little scary even though she was getting the freedom she desperately craved. She held unto her cross necklace it wouldn't be so bad Buffy was going to stay there and get a job and she was still giving her self-defense lessons slash slayer training. Dawn insisted that Buffy keep on teaching her even if there were so many other slayers now she knew they were valuable skills that she needed to know. Being the sister of the original vampire slayer still made her a target. Not to mention her own origin's that tended to haunt her from time to time. She tried not to focus on the fact that she was created as the "Key" and that all of her memories before she was fourteen were placed by monks. To her those memories were real and that other reality didn't matter.

Suddenly her dorm room flew open and her roommate came buzzing in. She had purple hair and a nose ring. Dawn set up from her bed.

"Hey, Andrea."

"Hey, chick, so you're all settled in huh?"

"Uh, yeah, you?"

"Oh, yeah, I just need to throw my bag anywhere and I'm good to go."

"Great." Dawn faked a smile.

"So let's go get some food I'm starved."

"Uh, sure." Dawn said as she took her purse.

She didn't really think she had that much in common with her roommate but she was willing to try. So she asked her,

"So where are you from?"

She started to listen to Andrea's tale of her troubled youth in some sickingly perfect suburb but she was distracted by this very cute guy with slightly long brown hair drinking coffee. He seemed to be thinking about something profound. She wondered what it was. She seemed to find herself in some parallel universe when bang she walked into his table and he spilled his hot coffee on her.

Mortified and thriving in pain from the hot coffee she blushed and blurted, "Sorry."

"Your sorry, no I'm sorry." He quickly took some napkins and started wipe the coffee that was on her white blouse of her stomach. She got tingles at his touch and then she took the napkins from his hands.

"That must be hot. Are you ok?"

"Oh, me I'm...ouch." Dawn said as she was wiping the hot coffee.

"I'll take that as a no. My name is Conner Jones by the way."

"I'm dawn." She smiled although she was still in physical pain.


	3. Chapter 3

Dawn went back to her room with a spring her step and a smile on her face. She felt like an idiot when she bumped into Conner but he was so sweet about the whole thing. After that he bought her a cup of coffee and they talked. She found out that e was going to UCLA for the summer while he stayed home with his parents. He usually went to Stanford. Defiantly a smarty pants. Dawn tried to stay as cool and as possible but she defiantly stumbled and he seemed entertained by that. It seemed like he had a lot on his mind and welcomed a distraction. Dawn was happy to oblige.

Dawn fiddled with her notebooks and papers and took out her schedule. Dawn was excited to have a fresh start here. She really didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. But that was what college was for right to figure it out. Meeting Connor helped her keep up her positive outlook about school. Things were looking up already.

***

Connor went back home to an almost empty house his parents were gone with his little sister at a gymnastic even and his brother was home playing video games. He looked around looking at all of these pictures of his happy family. Lately looking at these always twinge knowing that most of good and nice memories of his family were a fabrication made from a mystical demon to please his biological father. It all changed that day he had to fight this demon and all of his memories came back. He had both memories and the real memories didn't seem real, more like a real messed up night mare. He didn't like to think about those memories; even so they were some small good moments and if it weren't for those moments he probably wouldn't be able to help fight by his biological father's side.

His biological father Angel had parted with him taking on the evil of Wolfram & Hart. He wanted to come and fight more to protect his new found biological father but he knew Angel wouldn't allow it. Connor just had to hope that his father made it out ok. He had to hope that this was just another end of the world crisis that Angel helped avert. So he did. He had hoped. Conner was grateful to Angel for what he did for him and for these memories of his family; even though they weren't real they helped him find a solid ground. They helped not be so morbidly taunted by growing up in Demonic Hell Dimension learning how to defend for himself and being raised by a vampire hunter. It helped him come to terms that he was the son of two vampires. One who had a soul and one who didn't. His real mother he only remembered once. She had come to him in a vision telling him that she had sacrificed her life to save his. Even though she was a vampire in her last breaths she had shown her goodness.

Now Connor had a solid ground, he just had to live his life his biological father had sacrificed for him. He had agreed to work for people he hated so he could have this life, so he could be happy. So that's what he was going to do. He was going to live his life. He really liked meeting that girl Dawn. She seemed different and fun. He could use some fun right now. He enjoyed just being around her. There was defiantly something about her. This summer was looking brighter already.

***

The next day Dawn rushed into the classroom. She couldn't believe she had slept in her first day. She tried to sneak in the back but the door was in the front so she seemed to interrupt the blonde woman teacher from her lecture. The lights were dimmed and she had a projection on.

"Thanks for joining us miss. What are doing staring? Take a seat." She scolded.

Lovely. Dawn thought. This teacher seemed like a regular bowl of sunshine. She scoped around the back row but they were all taken and then she saw an empty seat in the second row, right behind Connor. Dawn bighted up slightly. Connor smiled at her. And then went back to writing notes while the teacher continued with her stern lecture. This lady really didn't rub her the right way. She seemed really tough and focused. Dawn supposed she should have expected that much from Criminal Justice Professor. Dawn hated that she got to a bad start with the teacher so she tried real hard to pay attention to everything she said and started to take notes herself. But her focus on the outline of the how the class was going to be didn't last long when she started staring at Connor. He was so cute.

Alright stop thinking about the cute boy. Dawn thought to her self. Then the next thing she knew the class was over and people started filing out.

Connor turned to her, "So Dawn, you're interested in criminal justice?"

"Uh, sure. I'm all about criminal's getting justice." Dawn said awkwardly.

"Yeah."

"So Dawn, I know you were late so if you want to copy my notes."

"That would be great. Thanks."

"No problem. I hear the teacher is supposed to be really tough. And it being summer school it's even tougher."

"You'd think it being summer and all it would be easier."

"Nah, Summer is really fast paced. Everything is going to go really fast, but if you need help I'm willing."

Dawn smiled, "Thanks I'd appreciate that."

"Sure. No problem. How about over lunch later today?"

"Sure. So where's your next class?" Dawn asked fishing for him to walk her to her next class.

"Oh, I have student assistant duty."

"Oh."

"But how about I meet you later today for lunch after this next class. If you're not busy."

Dawn shook her head, "Oh, I might be free."

"See you then Dawn."

Dawn tried really hard not to blush and act really cool.

"See ya."


End file.
